The Tabernacle

In this new series, we take a look at the Spirit of God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, lives inside all who believe. This sermon introduces the rest of the series that will explore how we receive the Spirit, what the Spirit does, gifts of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and dangerous Spirits.

In our concluding message for The Gospel of Mark, we are encouraged to go and preach the word. It's Jesus instruction for us and we have His Holy Spirit living with us. We only must go and share with those around us.

Jesus is alive. If we seek Him we will find Him. He is able to roll away any stone. And we can trust Him to go before us.

Our Good Friday message takes us to the cross, where Jesus paid for humanity's sins.

In this message from The Gospel of Mark, we take a look at the two trials Jesus goes through before His walk to the cross. Jesus is God and King. Now matter how bad things get, God is still in control. We owe Jesus our total worship and obedience. And we need to ask the question, "Am I honestly seeking Jesus or have I already made up my mind?"

Jesus understands our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak. Jesus is patient, merciful, kind, forgiving, and doesn't discard us. If Jesus is that way with us, should we not also be that way with one another?

Jesus institutes a new covenant, God’s new arrangement for mankind, and all who believe will receive forgiveness of sins, relationship with God, and all the spiritual blessings that go along with it. There’s also a warning in the story of Judas who had been up close with Jesus, experienced everything the rest had experienced, and yet still failed to receive Jesus by faith.

We all worship something. In this passage we see two different people worshipping two different things. One worshipped their own status and greed, and the other worshipped Jesus. Which one do you choose? Worship is ascribing worth to God, and costly worship blesses the heart of God. Is your worship costly or comfortable?

In Mark 13, Jesus speaks of what is to come. Jesus is coming back, are you ready?

Chapter 12 begins with Jesus antagonizing the religious leaders with the parable of the rich land owner and the tenants who kill his son. The religious are angered because they know Jesus is aiming the parable at them. What follows in the chapter are 5 distinct but connected teachings of Jesus that describes what life as a tenant in this world ought to look like.

In this passage, Jesus demonstrates his lordship over nature and fruitfulness with the fig tree, over worship in the temple, and over everything in his teaching on prayer. The question for us is whether or not we will submit to Jesus’ lordship.

Being a servant means giving yourself away. The Kingdom is counter-culture, to not chase status and privilege. The only way up is servanthood (like Jesus).

The story of the rich young man is an opportunity for us to be confronted with the real Jesus and the real Gospel.

In this passage, Jesus is again tested by pharisees while teaching, this time on the issue of divorce. Jesus goes tot he purpose of marriage, and that our sin complicates things. The point is that we must approach Jesus like that of a child. Children are small, dependent, and uncomplicated.

Pride is our greatest problem, and is largely paradoxical: when I think I’m finally humble I find I’m not, and many times I’m blind to my pride because it’s disguised as your problem. The good news is that when we follow Jesus’ and his example, we follow the most humble servant who’s ever lived.

This passage contains a glimpse of Jesus glory, the disciples asking a good question, and a dose of reality. Through it all we get to see glimpses of Glory. Our responsibility is to listen to Jesus and depend on Him.

The question, "Who do you say that I am?" is aimed at all of us, a question that we must answer. What will we do with Jesus?

How quickly we forget what God has done. In this passage, Jesus asks the question, "don't you remember?". He asked it to the disciples and he's asking it to us. Spiritual amnesia is failing to remember what God has done. This message urges us to remember!

Jesus actions in this passage raise questions as they are out of the norm even for Him. First, Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon, visiting the Decapolis outside the Jewish boundaries of Israel. Secondly, He calls a Gentile woman a dog before granting her faith-filled request in delivering her daughter of a demon. Finally, he heals a deaf & mute man after putting his fingers in his ears, spitting, and touching his tongue. Why did Jesus do those things? The chapter ends with astonished crowds saying that Jesus does everything right.

We live in a culture of blame instead of taking responsibility for our sins. Jesus doesn't negate the importance of God's law, but is pointing to the fact that we need to change from the inside out. The warning for us is to not miss the point.